Crush
by MischiefLily
Summary: Just a little Dipper/Wendy fluff I had in my brain. What will Wendy do now that she knows about Dipper's crush? Takes place after Gideon rises. Enjoy !


Dipper sat on the counter, carefully applying rubbing alcohol to his various cuts. Despite his small injuries, it seemed everything was back to normal- Gideon's giant robot had been destroyed, he and Mabel would get to stay in Gravity Falls, and perhaps most importantly, Journal Number 3 was back in his possession, safely tucked into his vest. The Mystery Shack still had a giant hole in the roof, but that would be repaired soon enough.

Yes, things were calming down, Dipper concluded.

The bell above the door jingled and he automatically turned his head to see who had arrived.

Wendy.

Dipper sucked in his breath faster than he thought possible, yet he felt as though he'd just gotten the wind knocked out of him. He'd almost forgotten that Soos had given away his secret crush on her... right to her face.

"W-w-w... _Wendy!"_ he stammered, heart already racing. Oh gosh, what would she say? How would she react? His head swam with the horrible possibilities...

"Hey Dipper!" she greeted cheerily.

He stared at her blankly for a moment, in a cold sweat. Finally, he managed a weak "H-hey Wendy..." Even he could hear the sense of hopelessness that had seeped into his voice. He decided to concentrate on the floorboards.

"What's up, little man?" Wendy asked, walking in and leaning on the counter next to him.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't find words. He closed it again.

Wendy looked down at him and sighed a small sigh. "...All right, dodging the issue is out. I can see you're... pretty upset."

Vaguely, Dipper wondered why she was acting so... casual. But mostly he just felt sick to his stomach. He was staring down those floorboards as if someone would die if he looked away. _'...It would probably be me,'_ he thought. He almost chuckled cynically, but he couldn't find the energy.

Wendy gazed at him, waiting patiently for him to look up, or at least speak again. _'C'mon, keep it together!'_ Dipper inwardly scolded himself. _'SAY something, darn it!'_ He tried to take a breath, but found he was sort of hyperventilating.

"I'm... I'm fi-ne."

His voice cracked.

Dipper scowled at the floor. _'Really...? Of all the times...'_

As he was cursing himself, he felt Wendy's hand patting him on the back. Unfortunately, he wasn't expecting it and he jumped, knocking the bottle of rubbing alcohol over. He hissed as the fluid dripped down his leg onto a particularly nasty one of his many cuts.

"Oh my gosh- I'm sorry!" Wendy gasped. She hurriedly grabbed a roll of paper towels. "Here, let me-"

"NO!" Dipper yelled, and Wendy stopped in her tracks. There was an awkward few seconds where neither of them spoke. "I mean... I... I'll get it." She handed him the paper towels and he began to dab his leg, still refusing to meet her eyes.

Wendy watched him in silence as he wrapped gauze around his wound. "Look, Dipper-"

"I know what you're going to say," Dipper cut in. He wasn't sure if some of his courage had returned or if he'd simply been unable to stand the tension anymore. Either way, there was no going back now. "You're gonna say that I'm too young and that we can still be friends but not _that_ kind of friends, but now you'll always view me as the awkward kid who has a _stupid_ crush on you, and when you're around me you'll try to pretend nothing's different, but you'll _laugh_ with your cool teenage friends about how _dumb_ it is."

Wendy's eyes widened a bit. "Aw, Dipper...! That's not-"

Just then, Stan burst into the room with Mabel close behind. "I mean, did you even _SEE_ the look on his _widdle_ _face?_" Stan excitedly questioned, punching Mabel lightly on the shoulder. He pointed to his hearing aid. "I tell ya, I should've started wearing this thing _years_ ago!"

Mabel guffawed. "I _know_, right? And who'd'a thought Gideon was only outsmarting us all the time because of _these_ little things?" She dumped at least twenty Gideon pins out from inside her sweater, and Stan howled in agony as his hearing aid let out a screech that made even Dipper and Wendy cringe.

For the first time in a while, they looked at each other. "C'mon, let's go somewhere less... insane." Wendy said. She motioned for Dipper to follow and walked over to the ladder. As she began to climb up and onto the roof, Dipper considered staying behind... but that would only leave the issue unaddressed, causing him extra stress and probably making things even _more_ awkward later. He quickly began his ascent, before Stan or Mabel could get a chance to see him in the sorry state he was in.

When he reached the top of the ladder, he could see Wendy over on the other side of the roof, sitting on the edge of her 'secret hangout.' She was kicking her feet as they hung freely, her auburn hair blowing in the light breeze. The stars reflecting in her eyes made them shine even more than they normally did, Dipper caught himself thinking. He suddenly wished that everything would go back to they way it had been before: he could admire her from afar, and she would treat him like any normal person. _'But things will never be the same now that she knows,'_ he thought, heart sinking.

She heard him arrive and smiled at him, patting the roof next to her. "Come sit down, dude."

He had to climb around the hole in the roof, but it was still fairly easy for Dipper to shimmy his way over to the small overhang Wendy was perched on. He took a seat, as she'd instructed.

"Sooo... you think I'm gonna laugh at you with my friends, huh?"

Dipper suddenly felt ashamed of what he'd said; if he was sure of anything about Wendy, it was that she would never be so cruel. "Maybe not," he admitted. "But... I still don't understand why you don't seem the least bit fazed by this."

Wendy smirked somewhat sympathetically. "Don't hate me... but I knew about your crush on me this whole time."

"WHAT?!" Dipper stared at her, mouth agape, and felt a blush spread across his face. "B-But how? Who told you? Was it Mabel? When I get my hands on her..."

Wendy chuckled. "Relax, man. No one told me." She looked apologetic. "It... wasn't that hard to figure out."

He cast his eyes down, embarrassed. "...That obvious, huh...?"

She chuckled again. "Yeah, a little. But don't you get it? Things aren't really any different than they were before, except that now _you_ know I know."

Dipper considered this. "But... won't things still be... awkward?" he asked.

"Only if you make it that way."

He thought about it. "Yeah, I- I guess that makes sense." He sighed. "But I still feel… _weird_. Because, even though you know about my crush now-"

"You mean _you_ know that I know," Wendy cut in with a smirk.

"Wh-whatever!" Dipper cried, blushing again. "My point is…" He dared to look up at her. "I still don't know how _you_ feel."

Wendy looked at him for a long time. "...Ah," she said, understanding. "So, you think that one way or another, while we're up on this rooftop, things have to reach some kind of conclusion. I either have to accept you or reject you; there's got to be a climax, and it's got to be_ right now."_

Dipper blinked, taken off guard by her response. "Uh... Well, y-yes." He gave her a somewhat confused look. "Isn't that how it works? Otherwise it'd just be-"

"Awkward?" Wendy's smile had faded. "Dipper…" She looked out at the stars. "Even though it seems like it sometimes, life doesn't always have to follow a pattern. There's no _specific_ way boys are supposed to act around girls, or an exact _equation_ for relationships."

Dipper was thoroughly shocked. "There's _not_?"

Wendy rolled her eyes, but smiled a bit at Dipper being his typical self. "That would make things a heck of a lot easier, but… no." She turned to Dipper. "I know stuff's really stressful for you right now, especially since a lot of things have been changing for you all at once: your environment, the people around you, your body…"

He blushed. Did she _have_ to go there…?

"But y'know, we _CAN_ just keep going as usual," Wendy continued. "I'll work the register, you find crazy messed up stuff in the woods, we hang out sometimes… it works." She sighed. "I guess I have to give you _SOME_ kind of answer right now though…"

He felt his heart beat faster. This was it…!

"...but what I'm saying is, why not wait a little?"

Dipper visibly deflated.

Wendy kept speaking, though in a softer voice now. "Sometimes you think you feel something, but really it's just because everything around you and inside of you is going crazy at the moment. I know life is constantly changing, but… Maybe you should wait a few years, until things have… slowed down," Wendy said.

Dipper took a deep, albeit shaky breath. "So what you're saying is… you _do_ think I'm too young."

Wendy opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. "Well- maybe a little," she said, defeated. "But look, Dipper- I just got out of a… how should I put this… a _rocky_ relationship. Never had a boy try to brainwash me before…" she muttered to herself. "My point is, maybe we _both_ need some time."

But Dipper could barely hear her; he felt like his heart had cracked in two. He wanted to say something, to say it was all right or that she had a good point (which she did). But… he couldn't. Despite all logic, hot tears welled up in his eyes, and to his utter dismay, they spilled over and ran down his cheeks.

Wendy watched him silently, her features softening. "Dipper… I'm sorry, man."

The tears kept coming. He felt stupid, but he couldn't help it.

"There's… nothing I can say to make you feel any better." It was more of a statement than a question.

Dipper sniffled, trying to contain his childish tears. This was so embarrassing…

"I know it hurts," Wendy said. She glanced down at the nasty cut on his leg, the one he'd spilled alcohol on. "But sometimes… sometimes you just have to deal, and clean up the wound yourself, right? When other people try help, they end up making it hurt more, 'cause… they don't know your pain."

Dipper stared at his leg, eyes widening as he comprehended the metaphor.

"...I get it," he said quietly, voice hoarse from crying. "It- it takes time to heal. And _you_ need some time, because... Robbie broke your heart."

Wendy appeared as though she was trying to remain calm for his sake, but Dipper could see the hurt in her eyes. She stared out over the treetops for a while, but finally, in a shaky voice she managed, "...Yeah."

There was a long silence between them.

"Well… I'm sure your next boyfriend won't try to brainwash you," Dipper tried, hoping to lighten the mood.

Wendy half-smiled. "Yeah… I don't think he will." She turned. "Especially not if he's you."

Dipper blushed a deep red, nearly falling off the roof. "B-B-But-! I… I thought you said-"

"I said that neither of us were ready," Wendy interrupted. "I didn't say it could never happen." She winked at him.

He blinked, daring to allow a tiny dash of hope to creep into his chest. "But how will I know when you're ready… or when _I _am?"

"You'll just… know," Wendy replied, patting him on the head. With that, she stood and started to make her way back to the ladder.

"Wait!" Dipper cried.

She turned back around. "Yeah?"

He glanced downwards, blushing but smiling slightly. "So… That's not a 'no?'" he feebly asked, playing with the edge of his vest.

"More of a 'maybe later,'" Wendy said, grinning at him. She grabbed the ladder and climbed down, out of sight.

Dipper positively beamed. "I'll be waiting, then," he said softly. "For the day we're _both_ ready."


End file.
